Is it safe to shoot wet guns?

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"Water can be compressed? that's news to me."

There is a reason when you bring fish up from very deep water they all turn inside out.

they have to be kept in a high pressure container to survive.

Steel compresses also.

it is all about how much pressure you want to apply.

Water behaves very differently at 60,000 PSI than you would think.

The steel in a rifle receiver stretches enough on firing to use strain gauges to determine chamber pressure.

ETA:
Electrical tape works well for covering barrels.
Just shoot through it.
The air in the barrel in front of the bullet is probably going to make a hole in it before the bullet even gets there.

I have done this with even .22-250 rifles with sporter weight barrels with no problem.
 
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Jeez guys, the OP just wanted to know if it was safe to shoot guns that had gotten wet in the rain.
Ask anyone that was in Nam or in any South American countries during the drug wars if it is OK to fire a wet weapon. They would all be dead if it it were not safe. Oh wait, the VC would be dead too, my bad.
Or during a firefight, someone yells out 'I have to wait until my rifle dries out".
I never saw a hand signal that designated "wet weapon, cannot engage".
 
Or during a firefight, someone yells out 'I have to wait until my rifle dries out".
I never saw a hand signal that designated "wet weapon, cannot engage".

:D I am going to be laughing at this all day. Thank you.
 
I shoot in the heavy rain / snow all the time. Perfectly safe - Just make sure you dissasemble the gun and make sure you remove the moisture and condensation, then relube.

The danger is rust, not kabooms.

Bolt action guys, this means taking the bareled action out of the stock, not just lubing the bolt. ;)
 
The HK vid: the problem is the gas tube. That tiny gas tube can't drain as quick as a larger, shorter piston tube, so overpressure builds up, ends up blowing up the rear receiver, not the barrel.
 
No water cannot be compressed. That's how hydraulics works. It can be placed under pressure as in the the deep ocean but that water is not compressed one iota. Air will compress which is why it is so usefull for brakes and air-guns.
 
I personally think it's a common sense call. In other words, if the muzzle has snow in it, or rain has been coming down on the upward facing muzzle, I would consider that a bad situation. Because I care about my high powered rifles and don't want to risk damaging them, I always carry a finger tip protector on me when I'm hunting. If it starts raining or snowing I slip it over the muzzle to prevent any moisture from getting in it.

I'm not as picky about handguns, but just the same, I don't just allow the muzzle to get soaked.

As for shotguns, I take some of the above mentioned steps depending on how severe the weather is. I've actually seen a couple of SG barrels that got bulged because of snow build up in the muzzle.

GS
 
"Water can be compressed? that's news to me."

There is a reason when you bring fish up from very deep water they all turn inside out.

they have to be kept in a high pressure container to survive.

Steel compresses also.

it is all about how much pressure you want to apply.

Water behaves very differently at 60,000 PSI than you would think.

The steel in a rifle receiver stretches enough on firing to use strain gauges to determine chamber pressure.

Yes, there IS a reason some deep sea fish have their insides pushed out when they are brought up to shallow depths too fast...and it isn't because water is compressible. It's because the ones that have a problem with this have an internal air bladder which they use for buoyancy control. Air IS compressible...a LOT. If such fish are brought up from the depths too fast, with not enough time allowed for the air in their air bladders to equalize/bleed off, then the expanding air inside their bodies will indeed push their internal organs out of their mouths.

As for the pressures you're talking about with steel and strain gauges...what you're seeing is tensile stresses, not compressive stresses. Totally different beast.

Water is not compressible...and any pressures which you MAY see compressive effects are far, far beyond any practically achievable pressures outside of a laboratory, and even those are very tiny.

;)
 
@ BRICKEYE
"My cousin who served in Vietnam says they used condoms."

Thats what popped into my head "Trojan Man". My Uncle served 3 tours in Vietnam says the same about using the rubbers.
 
Water can be compressed have your ever seen what happens to a hydralocked engine. You have bent rods from water or too much gasoline/diesel entering the engine and the pistons trying to compress the water/fuel it turns into a hydraulic force.
 
Water can be compressed have your ever seen what happens to a hydralocked engine. You have bent rods from water or too much gasoline/diesel entering the engine and the pistons trying to compress the water/fuel it turns into a hydraulic force.
I don't think you are understanding what compressed means.
What you are describing is not water being compressible, it's being incompressible. When the cam shaft turns and attempts to push the piston further forward, it hits the proverbial brick wall that is water in the engine. Then it blows up.
The water in the engine is refusing to be compressed, and the piston is insisting that it becomes compressed. Then the weaker material looses. In this case, it's water vs. steel, and the steel looses.
 
@Iramo94

I got ya its just been a while since a I took a hydraulics class. its been a while but if i remember no liquid can be compressed, it will turn into hydraulic force. Its been a while got confused.
 
Gas= very compressible
Liquid= sort of compressible
Solid= extremely difficult to compress.

If you want the formula for compression of water here is what I lifted from Wikipedia a while back. "The bulk modulus it gives, 2.2GPa, is the ratio of pressure to volume change. So, for example, water at 22MPa of pressure will have a volume (22MPa/2.2GPa)=1% smaller than at zero pressure. The compressibility numbers it gives are (1/Bulk Modulus). So the formula you are looking for is V = V0(1-(P/Bulk Modulus)) or V = V0(1-(P*Compressibility)) where V0 is the volume at zero pressure."

I am no physicist, but I just like to read a lot. So take it for what you will. I also routinely read that sea water gains a bit of density as you go deeper. The numbers I seem to remember is a 5% increased density at the pressures created at the deepest part of the ocean.

What does this mean for a gun barrel? Just don't do it if it can be avoided, but there are certainly firearms capable of doing so.
 
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